The mascot is an integral symbol of any large-scale sports forum, along with its logo. It is a visual image that will have a direct association for millions of people around the world with our country, as well as it is a factor that will unite all guests and inspire participants to victory. Today we are honored to present our mascot - Lesik. The character, whom we will see again and again in the center of sports battles and cultural festivals.
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Legend
Lesik represents friendship, development, harmony, discipline, determination, cheerfulness, invincibility and vigour!
How? You are all surely familiar with novella The Little Prince, written by Frenchman Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. As the story goes, the Little Prince came to Earth and befriended a little fox, who taught the boy about many things, including the meaning of friendship.
The story of our baby fox Lesik begins when the Little Prince returned home, leaving Earth and Lesik behind. Having made such a good friend in the Prince, Lesik quickly missed him and all he could think about was finding new friends.
He walked all over his neighbourhood in search of friends, which helped his legs grow very strong. He listened very hard in hopes he could hear friends, which made his ears grow large. One day he heard the story of a legendary flower called the Paparats Kvetka (fern flower) that could make all his dreams come true, but he would have to travel to Belarus to find it.
Belarus was far away from Lesik’s home, but he decided that if was to find true friendship again, he would have to make the journey. (Thanks to his fitness tracker, Lesik knows it took a million steps to reach Belarus – but it was worth it!)
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The Foundation "Directorate of the 2nd European Games 2019" invited some kids from special institutions - the Belarusian Association for Assistance to Disabled and Young Disabled Children and the Children's Source of Education "Istoki", athletes, representatives of the media and partners of the Games to celebrate the presentation of the mascot.
The ceremony was attended by high-ranking officials from ministries and departments, as well as Dr. Rashed Mustafa Sarwar - Ambassadors of the 2nd European Games - representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Belarus, Alexander Bahdanovich - Olympic champion in Canoe Sprint, Anna Bond - blogger and TV presenter, as well as future volunteers of the forum. Famous Belarusian performers, participants in the song creation competition for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2nd European Games 2019 - the Litesound and Aura bands, as well as Daniel Yastremsky - the representative of Belarus at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018, performed for guests. The visitors of the ceremony had a unique opportunity not only to find out the name of the Games mascot but also to be the first people in the world who see the symbol of the upcoming multisports forum, as well as to make the first selfie for a new Instagram mascot account.
“The mascot that has been just presented here is the result of collaboration of a Belarusian designer and MEGOC. In our opinion, Lesik will fit perfectly into the overall concept of a grand sporting event to be held next summer,” said Anatol Kotov, MEGOC Deputy CEO.“ We’re planning plenty of promotional activities with the mascot. Let this character bring his spark to the long-awaited event! And we want the little fox to find friends not only in Belarus, but throughout the world.”
Dr. Rashed Mustafa Sarwar, a Representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in the Republic of Belarus, shared his impressions after the presentation ceremony: “A bright energetic character - this is exactly how the mascot of a major sporting event should be. One of the colors of our organization is the same as the one of Lesik’s is. I think, therefore, our relationship with the Games will become even stronger. I have no doubt the children will like the mascot and help us to commit the upcoming event to our memory for a long time.” UNICEF and MEGOC also launched a drawing competition. All the details will be provided later.
Lesik now has many friends and wants to make even more! He invites everyone around the world to visit him in Belarus and to see the Paparats Kvetka in person. And what a better time to do so than in 2019, the year of the European Games Minsk 2019 from 21-30 June!
So come and meet Lesik, he’s pretty easy to spot with his red hat (which represents vigor), white and green shirt (harmony), black shorts (discipline and determination), blue shoes (invincibility of his character), and yellow fur (cheerfulness). They are also the colours of the Paparats Kvetka design on the logo of the European Games in Minsk! As Lesik’s cap says, 2019 will be the brightest year of his life and the brightest year for sports in Europe!
Bright and colorful presentation of the mascot was organized by the media partner of the 2nd European Games 2019 - the Silver Screen cinema network, the national partner - the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in the Republic of Belarus and the official trading network Eurotorg LLC.
November 30 2018